The Yule Ball Part 2
Charles
Charles and Bianca, unbeknownst to them, were also outside, but they really were just taking a walk, for some fresh air. They had reached a large stone reindeer now, over which they could see the sparkling jets of a tall fountain. The shadowy outlines of two enormous people were visible on a stone bench, watching the water in the moonlight. And then Bianca heard Hagrid speak.
“Momen’ I saw yeh, I knew,” he was saying, in an oddly husky voice.
Bianca and Charles froze. This didn’t sound like the sort of scene they ought to walk in on, somehow... Bianca looked around, back up the path, and saw Harry and Celeste standing half-concealed in a rosebush nearby. She nudged Charles and jerked her head toward them, meaning that they could easily sneak off that way without being noticed (Harry and Celeste looked very busy to her), but Charles’ eyes widened in horror at the sight of his brother and, shaking his head, he pulled Bianca deeper into the shadows behind the reindeer.
“What did you know, ’Agrid?” said Madame Maxime, a purr in her low voice.
Bianca definitely didn’t want to listen to this; she knew Hagrid would hate to be overheard in a situation like this (she certainly would have) — if it had been possible she would have put her fingers in her ears and hummed loudly, but that wasn’t really an option. Instead, she tried to interest herself in a beetle crawling along the stone reindeer’s back, but the beetle just wasn’t interesting enough to block out Hagrid’s next words.
“I jus’ knew... knew you were like me... Was it yer mother or yer father?”
“I — I don’t know what you mean, ’Agrid...”
“It was my mother,” said Hagrid quietly. “She was one o’ the las’ ones in Britain. ’Course, I can’ remember her too well... she left, see. When I was abou’ three. She wasn’ really the maternal sort. Well... it’s not in their natures, is it? Dunno what happened to her... might be dead fer all I know...”
Madame Maxime didn’t say anything. And Bianca, in spite of herself, took her eyes off the beetle and looked over the top of the reindeer’s antlers, listening.
“Me dad was broken-hearted when she wen’. Tiny little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could lift him up an’ put him on top o’ the dresser if he annoyed me. Used ter make him laugh...” Hagrid’s deep voice broke. Madame Maxime was listening, motionless, apparently staring at the silvery fountain. “Dad raised me... but he died, o’ course, jus’ after I started school. Sorta had ter make me own way after that. Dumbledore was a real help, mind. Very kind ter me, he was...”
Hagrid pulled out a large spotted silk handkerchief and blew his nose heavily. “So... anyway... enough abou’ me. What about you? Which side you got it on?”
But Madame Maxime had suddenly got to her feet.
“It is chilly,” she said — but whatever the weather was doing, it was nowhere near as cold as her voice. “I think I will go in now.”
“Eh?” said Hagrid blankly. “No, don’ go! I’ve — I’ve never met another one before!”
“Anuzzer what, precisely?” said Madame Maxime, her tone icy.
Bianca could have told Hagrid it was best not to answer; she stood there in the shadows gritting her teeth, hoping against hope he wouldn’t — but it was no good.
“Another half-giant, o’ course!” said Hagrid.
“‘Ow dare you!” shrieked Madame Maxime. Her voice exploded through the peaceful night air like a foghorn; Bianca heard Harry and Celeste fall out of their rosebush. “I ’ave nevair been more insulted in my life! ’Alf-giant? Moi? I ’ave — I ’ave big bones!”
She stormed away; great multicolored swarms of fairies rose into the air as she passed, angrily pushing aside bushes. Hagrid was still sitting on the bench, staring after her. It was much too dark to make out his expression. Then, after about a minute, he stood up and strode away, not back to the castle, but off out into the dark grounds in the direction of his cabin.
“C’mon,” Bianca said very quietly to Charles. “Let’s go...”
But Charles didn’t move.
“What’s up?” she asked, looking at him.
Charles looked around at Bianca, his expression very serious indeed. “Hagrid’s a half-giant,” he whispered.
“Yeah,” Bianca shrugged. “So what?”
She knew immediately, from the look Charles was giving her, that she was once again revealing her ignorance of the British wizarding world. Brought up in the States, there were a lot many things that British wizards took for granted that were revelations to Bianca. She could tell that most wizards would not have said “So what?” upon finding out that one of their friends had a giantess for a mother.
“I’ll explain inside,” Charles said quietly, “c’mon...”
Harry and Celeste had disappeared, probably into a more private clump of bushes. Bianca and Charles returned to the Great Hall. Parvati and Padma were now sitting at a distant table with a whole crowd of Beauxbatons boys, and Hermione was once more dancing with Dean, while Ron was nowhere to be seen. Charles and Bianca sat down at a table far removed from the dance floor.
“So?” Bianca prompted Charles. “What’s the problem with giants?”
“Well, they’re... they’re...” Charles struggled for words. “... not very nice,” he finished lamely.
“Who cares?” Bianca asked. “There’s nothing wrong with Hagrid!”
“I know there isn’t, but... blimey, no wonder he keeps it quiet,” Charles sighed, shaking his head. “Ron always thought he’d got in the way of a bad Engorgement Charm when he was a kid or something. Didn’t like to mention it...”
“But what’s it matter if his mother was a giantess?” Bianca wondered.
“Well... no one who knows him will care, ’cos they’ll know he’s not dangerous,” Charles said slowly. “But... Bianca, they’re just vicious, giants. It’s like Hagrid said, it’s in their natures, they’re like trolls... they just like killing, everyone knows that. There aren’t any left in Britain now, though.”
“What happened to them?”
“Well, they were dying out anyway, and then loads got themselves killed by Aurors. There’re supposed to be giants abroad, though... They hide out in mountains mostly...”
Bianca nodded. “I mean, there are giants in America, but they’re not known to be... I don’t know, vicious beasts. They usually don’t disturb wizards, so we let them be.”
“I don’t know who Maxime thinks she’s kidding,” Charles said, watching Madame Maxime sitting alone at the judges’ table, looking very somber. “If Hagrid’s half-giant, she definitely is. Big bones... the only thing that’s got bigger bones than her is a dinosaur.”
Harry
“Charcoal,” Cedric breathed, his eyes wide. “I figured it out!”
Harry frowned. They didn’t usually use each other’s Prowler nicknames, but when they did, it was something serious or exciting. “What, Ced?”
“The egg!” Cedric beamed. “I just remembered... Dad was once muttering about how horrible Mermaids were, and I was five back then, I think, and so I asked him if they spoke our language, and he said they spoke Mermish, which sounded like a screeching wail to us humans! It’s Mermish, the egg!”
Jéricho’s eyes widened, and he grinned. “You’re a genius, Ced! Of course it’s Mermish... how could I not see it before?!”
Cedric shrugged modestly, his cheeks flushing in pleasure. “The memory just popped in my head, suddenly...”
Harry laughed. “This is great news... I’ll check it out tonight itself!”
Charles
Charles and Bianca spent the rest of the ball discussing giants in their corner, neither of them having any inclination to dance anymore.
When the Weird Sisters finished playing at midnight, everyone gave them a last, loud round of applause and started to wend their way into the entrance hall. Many people were expressing the wish that the ball could have gone on longer, but no matter how much he’d enjoyed it, Charles was perfectly happy to be going to bed; he was way too tired.
Out in the entrance hall, they saw Sera saying good night to Krum before he went back to the Durmstrang ship. She gave Adrian – who was passing by – a very cold look and swept past him up the marble staircase without speaking. Charles and Bianca were halfway up the staircase to the common room when he heard someone calling him.
“Hey — Charles!” It was Harry.
“Yeah?” Charles raised an eyebrow as Harry ran up the stairs toward him.
Harry looked as though he didn’t want to say whatever it was in front of Bianca, who shrugged and continued to climb the stairs, giving Charles a goodbye kiss.
“Listen...” Harry lowered his voice as he slugged an arm on Charles’ shoulder. “No matter the... differences between us, you’re my little brother and I love you so... You know that golden egg? It wails when you open it...”
“Yeah.”
“Well... take a bath, okay?”
“What?”
“Take a bath, and take the egg with you, yeah? Just mull things over in the hot water. It’ll help you think, trust me.”
Charles stared at him.
“Look, I’m not just telling you the whole thing or you’ll get mad, so...” Harry hummed, “You know what? Use the prefects’ bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password’s ‘pine fresh.’ Gotta go now, see you!”
He grinned at Charles and hurried back down the stairs.
Charles walked back to Gryffindor Tower alone. That had been extremely strange advice. Why would a bath help him to work out what the wailing egg meant? Was Harry pulling his leg?
The Fat Lady and her friend Vi were snoozing in the picture over the portrait hole. Charles had to yell “Fairy lights!” before he woke them up, and when he did, they were extremely irritated. He climbed into the common room and found Ron and Hermione having a blazing row, and groaned tiredly. Not again! Standing ten feet apart, they were bellowing at each other, each scarlet in the face. Bianca was beside Hermione, glaring heatedly at Ron and also purple in the face – it seemed she’d already done her share of fighting.
“Well, if you don’t like it, you know what the solution is, don’t you?” yelled Hermione; her hair was coming down out of its elegant bun now, and her face was screwed up in anger.
“Oh yeah?” Ron yelled back. “What’s that?”
“Next time there’s a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!”
Ron mouthed soundlessly like a goldfish out of water as Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the girls’ staircase to bed, Bianca following her. Ron turned to look at Charles.
“Well,” he sputtered, looking thunderstruck, “well — that just proves — completely missed the point —”
Charles didn’t say anything. He liked being back on speaking terms with Ron too much to speak his mind right now — but he somehow thought that Hermione had gotten the point much better than Ron had.